Hungary and Denmark go for gold in women's final

There was much at stake at the second last day of the 2013 European Beach Handball Championships in Randers.

When the quarter-finals threw off early in the afternoon on Saturday (13 July), each of the eight teams knew that a spot in the semi-final would also guarantee the qualification for next year's Beach Handball World Championships.

Therefore some intense battles unfolded on Randers' sandy courts.

In the main court's quarter-final the Danish hosts faced Russia.

Backed by the return of their goalkeeper Hanne Frandsen, who had to leave the court with a foot injury during Friday's main round, and the vocal support of 1,750 spectators, they gained momentum quickly, convincingly winning the first half 19:10 and the second 16:12.

"Both the defense and the attack played well together.. We came up with a lot of chances and did not miss as many as we did in our recent matches," said Denmark's head coach Morten Holmen.

Hungary, Ukraine and Norway had equally little problems with their respective opponents as they also them 2:0 to reach the semi-finals.

Hungary and Denmark show no nerves

With a place at the World Championships already pocketed, the next step for the semi-finalist was booking a berth at the 2013 European Beach Handball Championship Final.

And it became Denmark and Hungary which showed no nerves, winning their matches in very convincing fashion 2:0 respectively.

In Denmark's encounter with Ukraine it was once more goalkeeper Hanne Frandsen who was one of keys to the hosts' success, scoring even two points with a shot crossing the entire court.

Denmark's second asset was Pernille Rähr Sörensen who scored 20 points.

In the second semi-final Hungary took the fírst set 18:12.

Norway kept the game open in the second set and had the chance to level the score to get to the golden goal with only seconds left on the clock, but as they missed it, Hungary took also the second set 14:12.

Therefore Hungary and Denmark will play for gold on Sunday (14 July) at 19:00 hrs.

This time has changed from the original match schedule. The women's final will now take place after the men's final which throws off at 18:00 hrs.

Norway and Ukraine will play for bronze at 16:00 hrs.

Italy and Russia will play for fifth place at 14:00 hrs; Spain and Turkey battle it out for seventh rank also at 14:00 hrs.

The overall results and the match schedule for the women's event can be found here.